In late July, after a six-week wait, Goby's MINI ‘Cooper S’ arrived at MINI OF THE HAMPTONS and as a crew training flight was scheduled for the 1st of August, it was decide that as an exercise the Turbo Caribou would pick up the Mini.

On the trip up Captain “headwind” Hart experienced the joy of a 20 knot tail wind, however closer to the destination it became apparent that the weather forecaster had been a little too optimistic and the area was in fact at minimums, while being vectored to the Westhampton Beach (Francis S Gabreski) airport the controller informed the crew that the ILS was inoperative, diverting ten miles west to the Brookhaven airport where Jim Hart executed an “on the numbers” ILS approach and smooth landing at minimums in drizzle and mist.

A one-hour taxi ride from the airport to the MINI dealer was followed by a brisk thirty-minute return in the Cooper S, the MINI was easily loaded on board the Turbo Caribou with many inches to spare and tied down for its first flight. And just over an hour later after a very smooth ride at 8000ft, the Mini arrived at Cape May airport and the Turbo Caribou easily disgorged its charge.

First Flight of Turbo Caribou N303PT

Turbo Caribou serial number 303 (N303PT) took to the air for the first time on September 17, 2014 flown by Jim Hart and John Early and with two flights totaling 3-hours and no snags, Captain Hart reported it to be the smoothest Turbo Caribou yet.

The viable program that was "Project Tango Charlie" (opportunities lost for all).

Turbo Caribou N303PT left Cape May County Airport on the morning of May 3, 2016 in dismal weather conditions and disappeared into the morning mist just after braking ground.

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The background

During the visit (shame about the spelling)of officials from Puncak Regency and Trigana Air Service to Cape May in late February of 2016, Regent Willem Wandik remarked that because of the challenging terrain in his regency with minimal available surface transportation, the Turbo Caribou was the only aircraft recommended to deliver supplies such as generators and equipment to improve the lives of his people.

The Ferry

The crew for the journey to Papua was John Early as PIC, Bob Ambrose as ferry pilot and Greg Hudson as engineer. The long range system consisted of two 529-gallon Turtle-Pac bladders feeding the aircraft’s fuel tank by two electric pumps (main & stby) each capable of delivering 3000-lbs/hr.